Orange County Sheriff Lawson Lamar on Friday cut in half the suspension of a deputy who shot at a fleeing burglary suspect last month.

Lamar ordered that Deputy Sheriff Roland LaCroix, 33, be suspended without pay for half a week for shooting at the suspect during a chase on April 15. According to sheriff's reports, LaCroix saw the suspect leave a house where a burglary had been reported.

LaCroix missed, but the suspect, David Allen Camire, 19, immediately stopped and was arrested.

Lamar originally ordered that LaCroix be suspended for a week without pay. LaCroix appealed the suspension to a department review board, which earlier this month recommended to Lamar that the deputy's punishment be limited to a written reprimand.

Lamar has refused to comment on his reasons for the suspensions.

''We would consider it a very fair punishment for the violation of the general orders,'' sheriff's spokesman Randy Means said.

According to sheriff's office reports, LaCroix was hiding behind the northwest Orange County house where the burglary had been reported when he saw the suspect run out. Camire matched a witness' description of the burglary suspect.

LaCroix told review board members that he yelled at the suspect to stop but the suspect refused. After jumping a barbed wire fence and chasing the suspect about 100 yards through the brush and across a private driveway, LaCroix said he fired.

The sheriff's policy allows deputies to shoot at fleeing felony suspects ''only when . . . you have probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to either yourself or another person.''

LaCroix has said he feels his shooting met those guidelines. He told review board members that profiles of residential burglars show they often arm themselves and usually strike again.

A loaded .25 caliber semi-automatic pistol was found in Camire's pants pocket when he was arrested. Camire was charged with the burglary and attempted arson of an Apopka funeral home.

Although he did not know who Camire was, LaCroix has said he was afraid that if he got away, he could hurt someone in the future.

Review board members questioned the clarity of the department's shooting policy. They said parts of it should be rewritten or it should be better explained to deputies.

Means said Lamar feels the policy is adequate.

''You can never make a policy so direct that it allows the deputy not to use his own discretion,'' Means said. ''The deputies are skilled enough to be able to decipher what they should or should not do. Deputy LaCroix had been given a class not long before the shooting. Had he had any questions, he should have directed them to the staff attorney.''

Means said LaCroix would serve his suspension next week.

LaCroix said Friday that he still feels he did the right thing.

''I still disagree with it,'' he said. ''But it went through the appeal process, and I have to accept the decision.''